The Beekeeper of Aleppo at Nottingham Playhouse

This week, we were invited to see The Beekeeper of Aleppo at Nottingham Playhouse. This drama is running from Thursday 9th – Saturday 25th February, with various accessible performances available.

Adapted for the stage by Nesrin Alrefaai and Matthew Spangler, it is based on the acclaimed and best-selling novel by Christy Lefteri. It follows the story of Nuri, a Syrian beekeeper, and his wife, Afra, as they flee the war in Syria and seek asylum. The show will have you moved to tears, with light tones and jokes mixed into the script to bring welcome moments of levity. This tone really conveys the human nature of looking for humour in hard times, while not shying away from a tragic and poignant story.

The show boasts a small cast and a small set, with both elements deserving of great esteem. Most of the cast take on multiple roles, with the exception of Alfred Clay, who plays Nuri, and Roxy Faridany, who plays Afra. The beating heart of the show, they both command the room whenever they are on stage, and can tug at your heart strings with the smallest of acting decisions. You root for this couple as the story unfolds, and follow the stresses and strains such a journey and life events can take on a marriage. In the audience, you are invited into intimate moments of vulnerability, weakness and fear. You can’t help but relate to these likeable characters, which is juxtaposed against the awful situations they find themselves in, and the choices they must make.

Marriage is a key theme of the play, and one which a lot of us will be able to relate to. But this production really portrays relationships of all kinds, including those with friends, family and even strangers. It is about life, community, colonies, differences, and similarities. The colourful cast of characters demonstrate this, and they are as wide ranging to include smugglers and criminals as well as a local GP in the UK. The costume choices serve the actors greatly, with each costume infused with the essence of each different person. One actor may play a sympathetic role in one scene, and a villainous one in the next, but you are able to follow along seamlessly.

The staging is simple yet effective: two sand dunes in front of a framework. One bed frame, one arm chair and a hidden hatch. At several key moments, sand falls from the top of the stage to great dramatic effect. Projections are also used to immerse the stage in different settings; one a beehive, one the war-torn landscape of Aleppo. As we watch these sand dunes transport us from Aleppo to the UK seaside, this also becomes a symbol of versatility and how we may not be that different, after all. And just as the stage does, our main characters bring a piece of Aleppo wherever they are.

Extremely moving, important and something everyone should rush out and see, The Beekeeper of Aleppo shows us how we can choose to be divided, or we can choose to work together. It is about relationships, life, war, love, and immigration.

Nottingham Playhouse also run Conversation Café every Monday from 4pm – 5pm, providing a space for refugees and people seeking asylum to come together for a free hot drink and a chat.

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All photos credited to Manuel Harlan. Blog written by Katherine Taylor, Marketing Executive at Visit Nottinghamshire.